


The Beginning of the Rest of Their Lives

by ohsnapitzalli



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 01:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2562446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsnapitzalli/pseuds/ohsnapitzalli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ella goes to visit Carm and Erin in Canada to watch their second friendly against Japan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beginning of the Rest of Their Lives

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this from the picture Ella posted of Erin and Emily before the friendly against Japan.

Canada is freezing pretty much all year long, but with winter coming on fast Ella is shivering the second she exits the airport. Teeth chattering, she looks around for Erin or Carm, she isn’t sure which is coming to pick her up. She is still searching the crowd when she feels warm arms wrap around her from behind.

“Carm!” Ella practically yells, turning around and snuggling into Carm’s embrace.

“Good to see you peasant” Carm laughs, pulling back and Ella immediately misses the warmth of her arms.

“You too Carm. Now can we go before I freeze to death?” Ella asks as she shivers involuntarily.

“Americans” Carm remarks, throwing an arm around Ella’s shoulders and leading her towards the car.

They spend most of the car ride catching up and chatting about nothing important before Ella finally brings up the game.

“So are you excited?”

Carm turns and looks at Ella, “More nervous than excited I think. Japan is ranked number three in the world” Carm answers, tapping her fingers nervously on the steering wheel.

“So what?” Ella says, “You always play well against us and we’re number one”

“It’s different with the Americans,” Carm starts slowly, “there’s a huge rivalry. Always has been, always will be”

Ella is silent for a minute; she knows that Carm is right, but she wants to reassure her. The game isn’t out of their reach, even though they lost on Saturday.

“You’ll do great” Ella finally settles on saying.

“We didn’t on Saturday” Carm argues, “And I probably won’t even play tomorrow”

Ella can hear the defeat in Carm’s voice. She knows that Carm is worried about keeping her position as she gets older and more young players come in. She waits until Carm has parked the car at the hotel before speaking again.

“Carm” Ella starts, “Look at me”

After a few seconds Carm obeys, self-doubt evident on her face.

“Even if you don’t play tomorrow, it won’t be because you aren’t good enough. John wants to see what the young players can do and test the depth of his roster” Ella says, looking Carm in the eye and trying to reassure her.

Carm takes a deep breath, “Thank you Ella, I needed that”

“That’s what your peasant is here for” Ella jokes, diffusing the tension that has settled in the car.

Carm smiles and they both get out of the car and walk into the hotel.

“Peasant!” Ella hears as she walks into the lobby. Seconds later a body barrels into her and arms wrap around her.

“Erin I can’t breathe” Ella struggles to say as she hugs Erin back.

“Peasants don’t need to breathe” Erin replies but loosens her grip, laughing.

As soon as Erin backs up new arms are around Ella, “Kaylyn!” Ella says, returning the hug, “I missed you!”

“I missed you too Ella! It’s good to see you” Kaylyn replies.

“You too” Ella says smiling as she breaks the embrace.

“Quit hogging the American” Ella hears, and she whips her head around, turning in a full circle before her eyes land on Emily.

“Em!” Ella says, rushing over and pulling her friend into a tight hug.

“Good to see you too” Em says laughing.

“See I told you, you should just become a Canadian” Carm says, smiling at how much of the Canadian team Ella has become friends with.

They spend the next hour or so catching up before the Canadians have to go to practice. Ella heads up to Carm and Erin’s room to hang out with Maxwell and rest from her flight. About two hours later Carm walks into her hotel room to see Ella asleep on her bed with Maxwell next to her. Carm smiles and snaps a picture before going to wake Ella up.

“Ella” Carm says, lightly shaking her shoulder.

“Hm?” Ella mumbles, turning over and burying herself further into the blankets.

“You need to wake up. We’re going to get dinner” Carm tries again.

“Mmm lay with me for a little bit” Ella mumbles and fumbles for Carm’s arm.

Carm sighs before laying down with Ella. Ella immediately snuggles into Carm and Carm shins contently again.

“Five minutes. Then we need to go before Erin comes looking for us” Carm says, placing a light kiss on Ella’s forehead.

Ella grumbles sleepily in response. Ten minutes later Carm shakes Ella awake again.

“Ella come on” Carm tries, “If you don’t get up you’ll be awake at three in the morning”

Ella sighs, but sits up, “Fine let’s go” she mumbles, standing up and sliding on her shoes.

Carm smiles and follows Ella out of the room. Ella eats dinner with the team and they end up sitting in the dining room talking for a few hours. It’s almost 10:00 when Carm notices Ella struggling to stay awake and involved in the conversation.

“Alright, I think it’s time to put the American to bed” Carm says standing up and offering her hand to Ella.

“I’m fine” Ella replies half-heartedly.

Erin laughs, “Go with Carm, Ella” she says before turning to Carm, “I’ll be up in a few minutes”

“Fine” Ella mumbles grumpily before following Carm out of the room. Once they get into the elevator Ella leans her head on Carm’s shoulder. In the 45 seconds that they are in the elevator Ella manages to lean almost all of her weight onto Carm, forcing Carm to half carry Ella back to the room before laying her down on her bed. Carm gently takes on Ella’s shoes and takes her hair out of its ponytail. She glances at what Ella is wearing and debates helping her change before deciding that the sweats and t-shirt that she’s wearing is close enough to what she usually sleeps in anyways. Carm stands Ella up for a second so that she can pull the blankets back before letting Ella lay back down. Ella’s eyes close as soon as her head hits the pillow. Carm smiles and changes her own clothes before climbing into bed with Ella. Ella immediately snuggles up to Carm and Carm wraps her arm around Ella before falling asleep, a content smile on her face.

Erin walks into the room a few minutes later to see Carm and Ella tangled up in each other, asleep. Erin smiles, _they should just date already_ she thinks to herself as she changes for bed. She snaps a picture of Carm and Ella for blackmail before climbing into her own bed and falling asleep almost instantly.

  

* * *

 

 

The next morning Ella wakes up with her head on Carm’s chest and their legs tangled. She smiles and closes her eyes again, not wanting to move away from Carm yet. She wakes a few minutes later to the feeling of Carm softly running her fingers through her hair.

“Mmm, morning” Ella says.

“Morning!” Erin calls loudly as she walks out of the bathroom, earning her a glare from Carm as she sits up.

“Breakfast?” Carm asks, looking at Ella.

“Coffee” Ella mumbles, her face still buried in her pillow.

“Okay, I’ll be back” Carm says, laughing.

Ella mumbles something in response before pulling the blanket higher on herself.

“I’ll take a coffee too!” Erin yells as Carm walks out the door.

Once Carm is gone Erin walks over to where Ella is laying and pulls the blanket off of her.

“What the hell Erin?” Ella exclaims, trying to pull the blanket back.

“We need to talk” Erin says, “Before Carm gets back.”

“Fine. What?” Ella asks, sitting up and crossing her arms across her chest.

“Do you like Carm?” Erin asks bluntly.

“I – what? Of course I do – she’s my best friend” Ella stutters, blushing and avoiding eye contact.

“You know what I mean Ella” Erin says, narrowing her eyes.

“I – I don’t know. I – yes. But she’s my best friend Erin. I’m not going to fuck that up”

“Ella, Carm loves you. You couldn’t fuck things up if you wanted to. Just tell her. Trust me”

“I don’t know. Maybe” Ella says just as Carm walks in.

“You don’t know what?” Carm asks, handing Ella her coffee.

Ella looks at Erin, panicked.

“If she wants to go get lunch before the game.” Erin replies calmly, taking her coffee from Carm.

Carm seems to believe Erin and Ella sighs in relief.

 

* * *

 

 

A few hours later Erin and Carm get on the team bus to drive to the stadium while Ella goes to Carm and Erin’s rental car to drive herself to the stadium. Once she gets there she goes to find her seat. While she is waiting for the game to start Ella pulls out her phone and posts a picture of Erin and Em with the caption:

**It’s not every day you get to see two of ur absolute favs n besties play for their Country … Couldn’t be more proud. #meltmyheart #lovelovelove (@erinmcleod1 @ezurrer)**

Ella knows that Erin won’t be playing today but she knows that Erin is happy to just be with the team. She also knows that Carm won’t see the picture until after the game, which is good because she wants to be able to explain to Carm why she isn’t in the picture.

The game starts and Ella watches intently. They play better than they did on Saturday and Ella can tell that part of the reason is the immense support of the crowd, but they still aren’t able to come through with the win.

After the game Ella walks down to where the team will exit the locker room to meet Carm and everyone else. During the game she realized that Erin was right. She is going to tell Carm.

The team starts to walk out and Ella spots Emily first.

“Keep your head up Em” Ella tells her after giving her a much needed hug.

Emily gives Ella a weak smile in return before making her way to the bus.

Kaylyn comes over to wear Ella is standing and Ella give her a hug, “Good game Kaylyn”

“Good to know I’m one of your ‘favs’” Kaylyn tells her, smirking.

Ella blushes, “You know I love you Kaylyn”

Kaylyn just smiles and leaves Ella to talk to Erin, who has just walked up.

“Hey do you guys have anywhere you need to be?” Ella asks Erin as Kaylyn leaves.

“Nope, why?” Erin asks, grabbing Ella’s hands to stop them from fidgeting.

“No reason. I’ll talk to you later” Ella answers, walking over to where Carm just came out of the locker room.

“Hey Carm” Ella says, not looking at her.

“Hey Ella. Did you have fun?” Carm asks, smiling.

“Yeah. Will you come to dinner with me? I want to talk to you about something”

“Of course” Carm says placing her hand gently under Ella’s chin, guiding her face up, forcing Ella to look at her, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, at least I hope so” Ella says, grabbing Carm’s hand, “let’s go”

Carm follows Ella to the rental car and gets into the passenger seat. Ella climbs into the driver’s seat and they drive to a small, intimate restaurant that Ella saw on her way to the stadium. Ella doesn’t speak the entire time they’re in the car and Carm glances at her worriedly every couple minutes.

They walk into the restaurant and follow the hostess to a table in the back. They sit down and both begin studying their menus. When Carm looks up at Ella she notices that Ella can’t stop fidgeting – her leg is shaking and she is nervously twisting the ring on her finger. They give the waiter their orders and Carm can’t take the suspense anymore.

“Ella” she says, placing her hand on top of Ella’s to stop her fidgeting, “whatever it is you can tell me. I’ll always be here. No matter what”

“IthinkI’minlovewithyou” Ella says all in one breath.

Carm smiles, “try again, but breathe this time” she says.

Ella takes a few deep breaths before trying again, “I think I’m in love with you” she finally says, slowly and quietly.

Carm sits there, stunned for a few seconds and Ella starts to panic.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that” she says, starting to get up.

“No Ella wait” Carm says, reaching out to grab Ella’s wrist.

Ella reluctantly sits back down but doesn’t look at Carm.

“Ella look at me” Carm starts and waits for Ella to look up before continuing, “Ella, I’ve been in love with you for months. I never told you because I never dreamed that you would feel the same way. You’re my everything. You make me laugh in a way that no one else does. You’re beautiful, and smart, and kind and my best friend. I would do anything for you and I had accepted the fact that that meant I could never tell you my true feelings”

By the time Carm finishes her speech Ella has tears in her eyes, “Carm do you mean that?”

“Every word. Ella I love you so much” Carm answers, wiping the tears from Ella’s face.

Ella smiles and leans into Carm’s touch, “so now what?” she asks.

“Well we try a relationship – I mean if you want – I mean – will you –“ Carm stammers, blushing and trying to figure out what to say.

“Yes” Ella says, cutting Carm off.

“I – wait, yes what?”

“Yes I’ll be your girlfriend” Ella says smiling.

Just then their food arrives and both girls look down, blushing. They eat their food, allowing conversation to flow easily, as it always does with the two of them.

As they are walking to the car Carm remembers the picture that Ella posted on Instagram before the game.

“Ella” Carm says, stopping in the middle of the parking lot.

“What?” Ella asks, turning around.

“Why did you post a picture of Erin and Em before the game?” Carm asks, sounding a little hurt.

_Oh shit._ Ella thinks, _I forgot about that._

Ella walks back to where Carm is standing and takes her hand, “I was scared. Scared at how close we were getting and how dependent I was on you. I wanted to prove to myself that I came here for more than just you. I was scared that you would find out that I like you as more than just a friend. But then when I saw you after the game I remembered what Erin had told me and just thought, fuck it, I’m going to go for it” Ella says, her hands shaking, both from the cold and her nerves.

Carm smiles and pulls Ella closer so that she can look her in the eye, “Well I’m glad that you went for it”

They stare into each other’s eyes, neither wanting to break the embrace. Eventually they both lean in and their lips meet. The kiss is soft and slow and full of love. Carm pulls back a few seconds later, lightheaded from the emotions running through her head.

“Wow” Ella says, her eyes still closed.

Carm pulls Ella into a hug and Ella buries her face into Carm’s neck.

“Wait, what did Erin tell you?” Carm asks, pulling back to look at Ella.

Ella laughs, “She just told me to tell you how I feel. Now let’s go. It’s freezing out here”

Carm smiles and wraps an arm around Ella as they walk back to the car.

Both Carm and Ella are sporting matching smiles as they walk into the hotel room a little while later. This is the beginning of the rest of their lives. Together.


End file.
